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pro-independence Partido Nacionalista (Nationalist Party); and Luis Muñoz Marín, who
established the Partido Popular Democrático (PPD; Popular Democratic Party) in 1938.
As son of the widely respected Muñoz Rivera, Luis Muñoz Marín avoided the radical
politics of Albizu, and took a more conciliatory approach to challenging the colonial situ-
ation of Puerto Rico. While the US Congress sidestepped the status question, Muñoz
Marín's PPD pressed for a plebiscite to allow Puerto Ricans to choose between statehood
and independence. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the majority of the PPD favored in-
dependence. However, neither President Franklin D Roosevelt nor the Congress seriously
considered it as an option, and laws were enacted to criminalize independence activities
such as those waged by the Nationalists.
Rather than take to the mountains to fight - as Fidel Castro later did - Muñoz Marín ad-
opted a strategy that incorporated the status question with other issues affecting the Puerto
Rican people, such as the dire economic and social effects of the Great Depression. His de-
ciding moment came in 1946 when he rejected independence and threw his political weight
behind an effort to grant the island a new status. In 1948, with Marín's support, Congress
granted Puerto Rico the status it has today as a Estado Libre Associado, or ELA, the Free
Associated State. This intended to give the island more political autonomy, despite close
ties with the US.
Former leader of the Puerto Rican Nationalist party, Pedro Albizu Campos was of African, Taíno and Basque descent. He gradu-
ated from Harvard University with a law degree in 1921 and was fluent in eight languages.
In 1952 this status description was approved by a referendum held on the island. Voters
also approved Puerto Rico's first constitution that was written by islanders. Muñoz Marín
became the first governor of Puerto Rico to be elected by Puerto Ricans. The new status
and newly granted US citizenship for Puerto Ricans led to what is commonly known as
the 'Great Migration.' Attracted to better economic opportunities in the US, Puerto Ricans
left the island by the tens of thousands. In 1953 alone an estimated 75,000 Puerto Ricans
arrived in New York City. Miami and Chicago also hosted large Puerto Rican populations
and the period would forever transform the face of urban communities of the United States.
A special cask of high-grade rum was set aside by a brewer in 1942 with orders that it be opened only when Puerto Rico be-
comes an independent nation. When (or if) that happens, free drinks for everyone!
Nevertheless, despite claims by the new governor and his supporters that the status ques-
tion was finally resolved with ELA, for all intents and purposes, nothing changed: the US
Congress still had plenary powers over Puerto Rico. Although islanders became exempt
from paying federal income taxes, they still had no representation in Congress (apart from
